41 real state firms fined over rental contracts outside Ejar

Ejar, the real estate rental program under the Ministry of Housing, has slapped fines on 41 establishments for violating rental regulations.

The fines were imposed after the authorities detected a number of residential contract registrations authorized outside the program.

Other violations included exceeding the rate of commission, which was fixed at 2.5 percent. In addition, the establishments were found carrying out tasks that are not mentioned in the commercial registration.

The violations were detected during field inspections by the supervisory team of the Ejar program.

The inspected conducted a total of 16,000 field trips to real state establishments and offices. Some of these trips were to increase awareness and others were in response to reports and complaints filed against those establishments.

The general supervisor of the program, Mazen Al-Dawood, said the financial penalties were part of the ministry's effort to organize the work of real estate offices and to ensure that they adhere to the regulations in order to improve the services provided. It also aims at protecting the rights of the tenant, lessor and the real estate broker.

Al-Dawood said the main goal of the field inspection was to raise awareness among real estate agents and assist them in developing their businesses to provide the best services.

He said they also wanted to make sure that they were improving operational efficiency while respecting the rules and regulations.

The fines were imposed on real estate firms that authenticated contracts outside the system of Ejar and also on establishments that carried out work not listed in their commercial certificates.

Real estate establishments charging more than 2.5 percent as a commission were also fined. The stipulated penalties for the violations include fines of up to SR25,000, closure of the office for a year or permanent termination of the permit.

The tenant or lessor can file a report through a special application, which will be then sent to the supervisors of Ejar program. The licensed offices were encouraged to update their information so that it will be easy for both the tenant and the lessor to obtain their services.